Caribbean Life News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Black Theater Festival in held June 13th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was a complete and compassionate, illumination and examination of Black life via the theatre. The festival\u2019s official commencement is an opening-night gala and awards ceremony that rivals the pomp and circumstance of any Hollywood red-carpet event. This gala is hosted by A-list celebrities like: Maya Angelou, Lamon Rucker (Meet the Browns), Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Game), and Ted Lange (Love Boat). There is also an opening night show that follows the Gala, which showcases the work of exemplary and award-winning talent, like Glen Turman, Lillias White, Sheryl Lee Ralph, etc\u2026[more…] According to Caribbean life new there were daily press conferences supplying media and interested parties with information about the festival\u2019s events. Over 40 plays were presented by theater groups and production companies from many states in the USA \u2013 even plays from as far as South Africa have been mounted. An assortment of complimentary theatre-related workshops was available to all. A prolific Readers\u2019 Theatre coordinated by Garland Thompson senior and junior, was a definite standout in programming. As if this wasn\u2019t enough, there were programs highlighting the talent of children and teenagers. Malcolm Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) hosted a nightly Poetry Slam. The Festival\u2019s vendors\u2019 market had unique products like my Black Betty Boo tee-shirt, I had to wrestle away from my niece. This year\u2019s festival (July 29 – August 3, 2013, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), promises more \u2013 even a Film Festival to boot. For us artist, and those of you spiritually evolved enough to recognize the importance of the arts to human civilization, attending the festival is a must. Sharon Tshai King of Caribbean Life news reported that the festival had two major flaws: the six days need to be extended to 10 or more, and the absence of Caribbean playwrights saddened me. This absence has no reflection on the festival organizers. Instead, it speaks to the seemingly lack of significance the Caribbean community places on the theatrical experience. Many of us, only like the type of theatre that offers an opportunity to \u2018laff till wi belly bus\u2019. Caribbean communities must embrace the Theatre as a powerful medium, from which to transmit deep and transformative messages \u2013 a platform to continue illuminating and examining our lives. Most importantly, it is a part of our ancestral legacy and inheritance. We, like our African-American clan members, were born to tell stories via the theatre, particularly our own stories. History has taught us, how damaging it is when we allow others to tell it for us.\u00a0Socrates has said \u201cthe unexamined life is not worth living\u201d – his prescription for the individual. The National Black Theatre Festival magnifies Socrates philosophy by illuminating, and examining the lives of African peoples throughout the Diaspora. This is an impressive feat, even by Socrates standards. Caribbean communities should take heed to this great example. The development of meaningful theatre projects in Caribbean Communities in the USA and abroad, will earn us a more powerful presence at the festival, and in the world at large. There is plenty in all our communities that merit illumination, and much needing serious examination. The most powerful way to accomplish this, is through theatre. I know Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin (founder of the National Black Theatre Festival) will be the spiritual guides of all such theatrical examinations and illuminations. Hopefully, we all will pass – instead of passing for, anything less than the greatness both of their spirits (Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin) still bestow upon us. *As the spirit of Larry Leon Hamlin and Socrates would have it, following this article\u2019s composition, Not About Eve: a play by an award-winning Jamaican playwright (Karl O\u2019Brian Williams), produced by Braata Productions (Andrew Clarke), featuring three actors from the Caribbean (Ilana Warner, Stacy-Ann Brissett, and Sharon Tsahai King), has been accepted as a Main Stage production for the 2013 festival (running August 2nd and 3rd). A play from Bermuda (Misunderstood) is also being presented on the festival\u2019s Main Stage. For more details about the Festival please check out Caribbean Life News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
National Black Theatre Festival - MA's Playhouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/masplayhouse.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/national-black-theatre-festival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Black Theatre Festival - MA's Playhouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Black Theater Festival in held June 13th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was a complete and compassionate, illumination and examination of Black life via the theatre. The festival\u2019s official commencement is an opening-night gala and awards ceremony that rivals the pomp and circumstance of any Hollywood red-carpet event. This gala is hosted by A-list celebrities like: Maya Angelou, Lamon Rucker (Meet the Browns), Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Game), and Ted Lange (Love Boat). There is also an opening night show that follows the Gala, which showcases the work of exemplary and award-winning talent, like Glen Turman, Lillias White, Sheryl Lee Ralph, etc\u2026[more…] According to Caribbean life new there were daily press conferences supplying media and interested parties with information about the festival\u2019s events. Over 40 plays were presented by theater groups and production companies from many states in the USA \u2013 even plays from as far as South Africa have been mounted. An assortment of complimentary theatre-related workshops was available to all. A prolific Readers\u2019 Theatre coordinated by Garland Thompson senior and junior, was a definite standout in programming. As if this wasn\u2019t enough, there were programs highlighting the talent of children and teenagers. Malcolm Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) hosted a nightly Poetry Slam. The Festival\u2019s vendors\u2019 market had unique products like my Black Betty Boo tee-shirt, I had to wrestle away from my niece. This year\u2019s festival (July 29 – August 3, 2013, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), promises more \u2013 even a Film Festival to boot. For us artist, and those of you spiritually evolved enough to recognize the importance of the arts to human civilization, attending the festival is a must. Sharon Tshai King of Caribbean Life news reported that the festival had two major flaws: the six days need to be extended to 10 or more, and the absence of Caribbean playwrights saddened me. This absence has no reflection on the festival organizers. Instead, it speaks to the seemingly lack of significance the Caribbean community places on the theatrical experience. Many of us, only like the type of theatre that offers an opportunity to \u2018laff till wi belly bus\u2019. Caribbean communities must embrace the Theatre as a powerful medium, from which to transmit deep and transformative messages \u2013 a platform to continue illuminating and examining our lives. Most importantly, it is a part of our ancestral legacy and inheritance. We, like our African-American clan members, were born to tell stories via the theatre, particularly our own stories. History has taught us, how damaging it is when we allow others to tell it for us.\u00a0Socrates has said \u201cthe unexamined life is not worth living\u201d – his prescription for the individual. The National Black Theatre Festival magnifies Socrates philosophy by illuminating, and examining the lives of African peoples throughout the Diaspora. This is an impressive feat, even by Socrates standards. Caribbean communities should take heed to this great example. The development of meaningful theatre projects in Caribbean Communities in the USA and abroad, will earn us a more powerful presence at the festival, and in the world at large. There is plenty in all our communities that merit illumination, and much needing serious examination. The most powerful way to accomplish this, is through theatre. I know Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin (founder of the National Black Theatre Festival) will be the spiritual guides of all such theatrical examinations and illuminations. Hopefully, we all will pass – instead of passing for, anything less than the greatness both of their spirits (Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin) still bestow upon us. *As the spirit of Larry Leon Hamlin and Socrates would have it, following this article\u2019s composition, Not About Eve: a play by an award-winning Jamaican playwright (Karl O\u2019Brian Williams), produced by Braata Productions (Andrew Clarke), featuring three actors from the Caribbean (Ilana Warner, Stacy-Ann Brissett, and Sharon Tsahai King), has been accepted as a Main Stage production for the 2013 festival (running August 2nd and 3rd). A play from Bermuda (Misunderstood) is also being presented on the festival\u2019s Main Stage. 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A prolific Readers\u2019 Theatre coordinated by Garland Thompson senior and junior, was a definite standout in programming. As if this wasn\u2019t enough, there were programs highlighting the talent of children and teenagers. Malcolm Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) hosted a nightly Poetry Slam. The Festival\u2019s vendors\u2019 market had unique products like my Black Betty Boo tee-shirt, I had to wrestle away from my niece. This year\u2019s festival (July 29 – August 3, 2013, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), promises more \u2013 even a Film Festival to boot. For us artist, and those of you spiritually evolved enough to recognize the importance of the arts to human civilization, attending the festival is a must. Sharon Tshai King of Caribbean Life news reported that the festival had two major flaws: the six days need to be extended to 10 or more, and the absence of Caribbean playwrights saddened me. This absence has no reflection on the festival organizers. Instead, it speaks to the seemingly lack of significance the Caribbean community places on the theatrical experience. Many of us, only like the type of theatre that offers an opportunity to \u2018laff till wi belly bus\u2019. Caribbean communities must embrace the Theatre as a powerful medium, from which to transmit deep and transformative messages \u2013 a platform to continue illuminating and examining our lives. Most importantly, it is a part of our ancestral legacy and inheritance. We, like our African-American clan members, were born to tell stories via the theatre, particularly our own stories. History has taught us, how damaging it is when we allow others to tell it for us.\u00a0Socrates has said \u201cthe unexamined life is not worth living\u201d – his prescription for the individual. The National Black Theatre Festival magnifies Socrates philosophy by illuminating, and examining the lives of African peoples throughout the Diaspora. This is an impressive feat, even by Socrates standards. Caribbean communities should take heed to this great example. The development of meaningful theatre projects in Caribbean Communities in the USA and abroad, will earn us a more powerful presence at the festival, and in the world at large. There is plenty in all our communities that merit illumination, and much needing serious examination. The most powerful way to accomplish this, is through theatre. I know Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin (founder of the National Black Theatre Festival) will be the spiritual guides of all such theatrical examinations and illuminations. Hopefully, we all will pass – instead of passing for, anything less than the greatness both of their spirits (Socrates and Larry Leon Hamlin) still bestow upon us. *As the spirit of Larry Leon Hamlin and Socrates would have it, following this article\u2019s composition, Not About Eve: a play by an award-winning Jamaican playwright (Karl O\u2019Brian Williams), produced by Braata Productions (Andrew Clarke), featuring three actors from the Caribbean (Ilana Warner, Stacy-Ann Brissett, and Sharon Tsahai King), has been accepted as a Main Stage production for the 2013 festival (running August 2nd and 3rd). A play from Bermuda (Misunderstood) is also being presented on the festival\u2019s Main Stage. 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